I wanna know, collectively, what's the highest price you paid for a bottle of wine, to drink or otherwise, and what brand it was. and maybe why? Did you hear it was good, did you taste it at a party, was it to impress someone?

most of the wines I see that are very expensive say to let it mature for years, so I'm just wondering if you pay for drink, or its value down the line, or some other reason...

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the best things in life take most of life to accomplish.

I presume we are talking retail here, and not restaurants. Since I'm the lowest spender around here, I'll go first. The answer is $45 for a Brunello di Montalcino that I got a great buy on. It originally wholesaled for $55. I'm saving it for our 50th in 2013. That was the most expensive by about twenty bucks. I very, very rarely, if ever, spend more than $25.

The most I've ever spent is $75, but that was an exceptional value for a 33 year old Spatlese Riesling that was tasting still quite young and wonderful. The winemaker had died, so his kids (not keeping the family business) sold off his cellar at next to nothing compared to its value. Usually, like IK, I am well under $25 most of the time.

The most I've spent retail on a bottle is around $30 for an Ebeneezer Shiraz. I've spent between $20 and $30 a few times--once for a Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc (~$25), once for a Villadoria Barolo that may not be a real Barolo, and a couple of other splurges. I keep almost all of my purchases below $15, and most of those are $12 and under. I pay for wine from my food budget, so I have to balance accordingly. In any case, I find it to be quite fun to hunt down bargain wines that are of high quality. I'm too much of a tightwad to do otherwise! [img]http://wines.com/ubb2/redface.gif[/img]

I sure hope that was in restaurant, because the 98 SO NV is going for @$75 out here. I would think the 98 was way too young for drinking, maybe by about 5 to 6 years. We opened the 94 this past weekend and figured it should have waited another 3 years or so.

My wife spent over $150 for a 1986 d'yquem . So I guess I paid at least half of that. We're going to drink if I ever retire.
I received a 1986 Cos d'estournel for Chrismas last year from my father-in-law; that had to cost over $100.
The most expensive I bought was a 1970 Taylor Fladgate for $95 in 1996 dollrs.
If I die soon, tis going to be a fine wake.

I'm fairly new to wine so I am way out of the price range others here are in. I'm not discerning enough yet to justify paying much over $20. I paid $28.99 for a Ruffino Chianti Classico that was recommended to me by my brother. That's the high price for me. I really like JJ Prum Riesling and have spent between $18-$23 per bottle on those, but most of my purchases are from around $8-$15. I've been attending wine tastings weekly for over a month now and have tasted some wines that run from $30-$80 per bottle and I honestly did not see any difference in them from the $10-$15 wines I've tried. I suppose that's good for my pocketbook!

Cheeps, you've got good taste on the JJ Prum Riesling.
The most I've spent is around $100-110 for a so-so (not great) vintage of Chateau Lafite. Not opened yet. Wanted to try a first growth Bordeaux.
Probably next most was $65 a bottle for two 1999 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru (red Burgundies). I haven't opened those yet either. They were originally intended as wedding gifts but the wedding was called off so I may get to drink them myself. I usually spend about $20-$30 a bottle, rarely go over $50. I used to be able to get half-bottles (.375 ml) of German Eiswein for $50 or less, but the ones listed in the most recent issue of "Wine Spectator" are well over $100.

When we first started drinking wine, it seemed like most everything we bought was in the $6-$10 range. I remember when spending $15 on a bottle felt like we were splurging. Over the past 4 years or so, we've noticed a "price creep." First into the $10-$14 range, then into the $15-$20. Now, we frequently buy $20-$30 wines, but almost always balance it out with $6 bottles of stuff like Vina Alarba. We call it "dollar-cost averaging down." We almost never open anything over $10 during the week or when only one of us is drinking.

Whoa!! I am looking down, staring at my shoes in shame..
Until a couple of months ago I was buying wine buy the gallon and paying 10.99 for it.
I've graduated to 1.5 liter bottles and paying 11.99 for that.
And going through at least 30 bux/week!
Hay-soose, that's 120/month!

I wouldn't sweat the $30/months, WillP... And Italian workmate told me his father used to buy red wine direct from the vinyard... in FIFTY-LITER kegs! (Paying the equivalent of around US$2/liter. Now THAT's value-for-money! [img]http://wines.com/ubb2/smile.gif[/img] )

The most expensive bottle I brought was NZ$33 for a well-aged chardonnay. (That's US$22.50 at current rates.) AND got in trouble with the wife for over-spending, too. [img]http://wines.com/ubb2/biggrin.gif[/img]

As a gift, I think NZ$45 was about as high as I've gone. Sure, I'd love to try the Villa Maria Noble Reisling we sell at work... NZ$55/half-bottle... but it might have to wait a-while.

I bought a 1995 Beringer Napa private reserve Cabernet for my 50th birthday in 2001 and payed $60. Most of my purchases are under $20 per. I do have a lot of "finds" though that would fetch 2 to 3 times what I paid if I flipped them but wine is for drinking, not flipping.

I also have my standard quaffers/house wines that are in the $15-$25 range, but often times wine that will stand up over time and improve with age costs more. There is nothing uglier than an empty wine cellar.

Monterey Rick,
You should enjoy that Foley Claret. I got to try a taste at a wine shop (not sure if it was the 2001 vintage but I suspect it was.) The others you mention I have yet to try although I did order some Lynch Bages on futures (either 2000 or 2002--I would have to go back and look up my order).
Curious what your favorite restaurants in Monterey/Pacific Grove/Carmel area are. Is there one you return to frequently? Others that you consider a splurge for a special occasion (birthday or anniversary)?